Both Born to be Kings
by Vana Jedi
Summary: After Prince Loki of Jotunheim and Prince Thor of Asgard's first meeting in the snow, peace talks lead to Loki being trapped in an Asgardian form.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: Prince Loki of Jotunheim has never seen an Asgardian before, so what will he do when he finds an Asgardian a few years older than him lying in the snow?**

**A/N: Loki is about five to seven in this one, Thor is eight to ten.**

"Huh." Loki sat back on his haunches and cocked his head to the side.

The subject of his gaze stirred slightly, shivering.

Loki picked up the Asgardian's hand and dropped it back on the snow and ice. He'd never seen one before.

_They look strange,_ Loki decided, poking the Asgardian's forehead experimentally. The Asgardian's eyes flickered open.

"Jotun?" the Asgardian asked, and then moved his hand slightly to his belt, looking for a sword. Loki was quite glad that hehad taken the precaution of removing its sword.

"Who're you?"

The Asgardian was a few years older than Loki, but clearly less resistant to the cold. He was wearing a thick coat and freezing, Loki was fine.

"Thor." Thor pulled his limbs closer to him and pushed himself into a sitting position. Loki saw that he was injured. There was a line of blood on his temple. "Crown Prince of Asgard."

"Aah." Loki was counting off the seconds until the Asgardian collapsed again. He'd read somewhere that they could only stand cold of this intensity for five minutes after they woke up, then they'd faint again. Stupid Aesir. "I'm Loki Laufeyson."

"…Laufeyson?"

"Crown Prince of Jotunheim."

Thor shuddered and blinked ,focusing his eyes. "Give me your coat."

"What?" The cold air didn't affect Loki now, but he was certain that if he gave up the coat it _would_. Despite the fact that he had experimented with staying out in the cold before, and it hadn't. Besides, Asgardians shouldn't ask for anything. It was enough mercy that the Jotuns allowed them to live. "No."

"Give it, Jotun. I'll die." Thor shivered again at his words. It was true, he knew, but saying it aloud made it more true somehow.

Loki thought for a second, then realized something. The Asgardian was slipping away, his eyes closing. "You're Crown Prince of Asgard?!"

"Yes…" Thor slipped down to the ground.

The small Jotun pulled him upright. "Odinson?" He was panicking now.

"Yes…leave me…"

Loki dropped the Asgardian's body on the ground and yanked off his coat, tossing it over him. "Stay there!" he shrieked before tearing off back to the castle.

King Laufey glared at the battle plan map. "If we move our right flank—" he offered.

"We'd end up being partly surrounded—" began the general, but stopped when a very small, very young Jotun shot into the room shouting something.

Laufey put the map down. "Loki? What are you—"

"Father!" Loki stopped to breathe. "There's an Asgardian in the snow, Thor, he's dying-"

"What does it matter?"

"The Crown Prince, Father! If he dies, Asgard'll declare war on us," Loki panted.

Laufey stopped. While war with the Asgardians was not necessarily a bad thing, they had signed a peace treaty no more than a year ago. If Thor died in Jotunheim, Odin would blame them.

His son glanced up at him. "Shall I find medics and bring them to where he is?"

The king was snapped out of his revery. "Yes. Hurry, Loki."

The little Jotun nodded and ran out of the battle room.

Laufey rolled up the map of Alfheim. "Bring out the map of Asgard. If Loki isn't fast enough, we'll need to be prepared for war."

"He's over here," Loki told the medics. He ran over to Thor and landed on his chest, bending over him. "Asgardian? You awake?"

Thor half blinked one eyelid.

Loki slid off him with a sigh of relief. "He's alive!"

"Loki…" Thor breathed. "What…" the young Asgardian gave up speaking, his teeth clacking together.

"Please don't die," Loki said, trotting by Thor as the other Jotuns carried him back. "It would be really, really, bad if you died."

"Not…planning…to."

"Good, because it would be really, really bad timing. Asgardians always have bad timing, Father says," Loki continued thoughtfully.

Thor was too tired and cold to complain of this unfair generaliziation, though he did manage to weakly hit the Jotun.

Loki was quite pleased that the Asgardian had managed to hit him, even if it did hurt a bit—it was fairly certain now that Thor would survive.

Thor didn't remember much of what happened later. He became sick with cold and had to stay in Jotunheim longer. He remembered asking the little Jotun—Logi? Loki?—if he could see Odin, and when he could go back to Asgard. If Loki or Logi or whatever his name was responded, he couldn't tell, because by then he'd slipped back to unconscious.

A while later he heard yelling outside.

"You're lucky I'm not starting a war, Jotun, I think—"

"_Asgardian_. You're lucky I didn't kill him now—"

Loki—yes, that was his name—slipped into the room. "Your father's here."

Thor blinked. "I can tell."

Loki jumped up into a chair, curling up in a ball. "He's angry."

"Of course he is!"

"It wasn't our _fault_ that you decided to freeze in Jotunheim! How'd you even get here? We were kind and took you in!"

"Because you were worried that my death would cause a war!" Thor rolled his eyes. He would have stood up to yell at Loki, but he didn't know if he had the strength. "You Jotuns think of nothing other than warfare and cruelty."

Loki _could_ leap to his feet, and did. "Was it warfare and cruelty that we healed you? Was it warfare and cruelty that drove me to tell someone that you were dying out there!? Who are you to judge cruelty, Asgardian? You're all alike, all selfish, inhuman—"

Thor couldn't see what had cut Loki off. He craned his head, and blinked, seeing Odin.

The Jotun had never seen the king of Asgard before, but his father had described him—_he lost an eye in the battle and wears a shiny patch over it to hide the injury, fool that he is, any warrior would be proud to have such a scar—_and as a result vanished.

Not literally—Loki would have been glad if he could summon magic to do this—but in the space of almost a second the little prince had scampered to the other side of the room. Theoretically the now-short-sighted Asgardian wouldn't be able to see him. Loki was all for standing up to the stupid Aesir, but right now Odin was holding a spear and he didn't want to be impaled, thank you.

"Hello Father," Thor said, giving him a small smile.

"Thor! What—" Odin was for once at a loss for words. "Your mother and I shall punish you greatly for finding your way into Jotunheim later." He glanced at Loki (apparently the stupid Asgardian _could_ see him after all). "Were you the one that found him?"

Loki paused. He could catch a glimpse of Laufey through the open door. Laufey looked none too pleased with Odin barging in (presumably Laufey would have liked to negotiate treaties for the safe return of Thor), but nodded to Loki.

"I was."

"Your name?"

Thor interceded. "He's Loki."

"I can speak for—" Laufey's eyes widened at him in warning and Loki calmed down. "Sorry."

Odin helped support Thor on his feet, pulling him away. "Come, Thor. If I find you in Jotunheim again I will be _very_ angry. How did Heimdall let you pass?"

Thor didn't answer the questions, instead leaning back to see Loki. "Bye, Jotun."

"Asgardian." Loki gave him a little wave, then bounded back into the chair and watched the Asgardians leave.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary: Odin decides to bring Thor along for peace talks so his son can learn decides that Loki should under no circumstances talk to the Asgardians. Being Loki, he does. In Midgardian terms, Thor is nine and Loki is seven.**

**A/N: Thank you to all who read, and an extra thank you and a virtual confectionary (you choose) to those who reviewed! **

**And I'm sorry about the line breaks. They should be there, but they didn't. I hope that they show up THIS time. You hear me, Microsoft Word? I said "****_I hope they show up this time"_****. Yeah. You be sorry.**

**If anyone sees something that I messed up on ("No, Vana, cupcakes are not traditional food of Asgardian warriors") please tell me in a review. **

**AaylaKitofNiflheim: Thanks. Considering that this is going to be a long chapter, and the picture just prompted the idea (like how seeing the word "cupcake" can prompt the idea of a fanfiction doesn't mean I should link to a Wikipedia article about cupcakes), I don't think I need to. Plus, you were the one who showed me the picture and I have no idea who even drew it. **

**TheCheeseburger: Thanks! I hope you like it! By the way, your pen name is awesome.**

**Frequent Flier: In reflection I probably should've added something about why Laufey kept Loki. Though in my mind it made sense that Laufey might've—history is written by the victors, after all, and Odin might have been mistaken as to why young Loki was in the temple. Or if he wasn't, history is still written by the victors. It's so much easier to fight people that you believe are coldhearted monsters then to fight a sentient species who vary in personality, likes, and dislikes. It's why I feel no remorse slaughtering hordes of evils in a video game. "Die, generic cookie-cutter Orc! Your pain means nothing to me!" I hope you like this chapter. **

**Guest: Thank you! I'm so happy that people like it!**

**the-raven-angel: Thank you. I've seen Jotun Loki fics before, but I think that this MAY be the first one of its kind. At least, I like to think it is. (AaylaKit has just informed me that it isn't. What does she know, I'm a special snowflake! :D)**

/ / / / / / /

It was quite a while before Thor saw the little Jotun again. Which was fine by him—he'd almost forgotten his name. It was a forgettable name, Thor reconciled himself. Besides, Jotuns shouldn't even have names.

His father told him that he would be going to Jotunheim for peace talks. Thor was disappointed that he would be leaving again—_Father, you just got BACK from peace talks in Alfheim!—_but was exuberant when Odin told him that he could come too.

"It's time you learned something. You'll be ruling this realm one day."

Frigga shook her head from where she was standing on the Bifrost by the gate. Thor and Odin were waiting by the entrance of it, saying their goodbyes to her. "Odin, I think he's too young."

"I am not!" Thor proclaimed loudly.

"All right." Frigga smiled at her son. She still looked worried. Thor supposed that he didn't truly blame her for being worried after what happened last time he was in Jotunheim.

"Mother, I won't try to attack a bilgesnipe with my bare hands again," he promised.

This appeared to ease Frigga's worry. "I know you won't, Thor. That was a year ago, and you've grown." She glanced at him. "You have, haven't you?"

Thor laughed. "Yes, I have. We shall return victorious!"

Odin decided not to remind him that there was no victory, per se, the only "victory" would be getting Laufey to sign the treaties—but that was victory enough for Thor (and for him, too). "Come, Thor."

/ / / / / /

"You watch the talks, but stay out of the way, Loki."

Loki nodded. He interpreted this as "stay quiet and don't talk to the leader". "Who's decided to attempt negotiation this time? Midgard?" He realized his mistake and bit his tongue. "No, Midgard doesn't have a representative—foolish mortals—Asgard? Muspelheim? Who is the leader of Muspelheim, anyway?"

"It's Asgard."

"Huh." Loki thought for a second. "The Allfather? Didn't we sign a treaty when we returned Thor to them?"

Laufey shook his head. "That was considered a truce, not a true treaty. It would be dishonorable for any of us to break that truce, but the Asgardians have _always_ been dishonorable, and believed that we are."

Loki walked alongside Laufey as they went to the negotiation hall. "I told you, Father. They're idiots."

"You don't need to tell me of Asgardian stupidity—I've experienced it myself." Laufey stopped at the door. "Loki, no more negative comments about the Asgardians, no matter how true they are. It would not do to anger them."

"I know. Stay quiet and out of the way."

"I know."

/ / / / / /

"Hello, Laufey, Loki," Odin greeted both of them as they entered, which took Loki by surprise. Next to Odin he was also surprised to see Thor, who looked utterly bored.

"Odin," Laufey said, sitting down across from him. Loki hovered by him, unsure of where to go, then shrugged and sat down by him.

A while into the peace talks (which Loki was quite enjoying, thank you. It was interesting), Thor made some excuse to leave for a second. Loki ignored Laufey's order to _not talk to the idiot Asgardians_ and followed him.

"Asgardian," Loki told Thor. "What're you doing at the peace talks? You look bored."

Thor considered lying and saying no, it was fascinating, he was learning a lot. Half of this was true. He was learning a lot, but under no accounts was it fascinating. "It's tiring. Arguments about payment—I think a war would be much more fun. And what are _you_ doing here?"

"I happen to _live_ here." Loki leaped up into an armchair. Most of them were made for people quite a lot taller than him, so he always had to jump. Thor pulled himself up into one by Loki.

"Yeah, but you don't look like it."

Loki froze, letting an ice dagger form in the palm of his hand. "_What_ did you say?"

"I meant the height thing," Thor said quickly, gesturing to Loki and the chair. "You're short for a frost—" he remembered that Odin had told them to address the Jotuns by their proper name "a Jotun."

"I'm quite aware that you call us 'frost giants', thank you." Loki let the dagger melt away. "I'm almost as tall as you are, and you're older than I."

"Father said that the Jotuns kill the runts."

Only Laufey's command kept Loki from murdering Thor then and there. "Firstly, I'm not a runt! Secondly, your father has an extremely strange grasp on our culture."

"He's all-knowing," Thor defended. "And you have to admit you're pretty tiny."

"I'm small, but I'm not a runt!" Loki waited until he had calmed down from such a grevious insult to speak further. "I highly doubt that Odin is omniscient."

"Omni-what?"

_Stupid Asgardians._"It means all-knowing." Loki placed a small hand on his forehead and sighed. Probably his father was finding talking to such idiots as difficult as Loki was. When _he _was king, he'd make sure that idiot Asgardians knew their place.

"He is. He's the Allfather." Thor stuck his nose in the air, proud to be called Odinson.

"He's not _my_ father," Loki pointed out. "So why do they call him that? Anyway, history is written by the victors."

"What?"

_Idiots, all of them!_ "There was a war between us and the Aesir. Your side won. Therefore, your side makes us out to be heartless monsters to justify the Jotuns they slaughtered."

"_You_ slaughtered the Midgardians. Froze them in their tracks."

"We did not! We—" Loki was at a loss as to what they did do, and reminded himself to read more history books. "We didn't do that," he finished lamely, feeling embarrassed.

"Sure." Thor was quite happy to have won this verbal battle and rose from the chair. "I'll look around."

Loki bounded out, chasing after him. "This is my palace, and I say you can't! You stay in this room, or in the conference room!"

"Try to stop me," Thor said, bored. He stuck his head in a spare chamber, interested.

The door slammed shut. "Stay out," the little Jotun told him adamantly.

Thor couldn't help but laugh. All the threat that the Frost Giants held was gone when you were talking to a little one of them. "I do what I want."

"_I_ do what _I_ want!" Loki leaned against the door.

"Okay, fine. Is this the sparring room?"

"Uh-huh, and you can't go in it."

Thor ignored him, looking at the weapons. He knew that Jotuns, savage beasts, mainly fought with the ice daggers, but there were still some weaponry in the sparring area. "Nice throwing knives."

"They're mine." Loki snatched them away. "And I'll use them on you."

A laugh. "They teach a Jotun child how to use throwing knives?"

"They teach an Asgardian brat how to use a sword."

Thor sighed and decided to make small talk. "Have you been to Asgard? Vanaheim?"

"Nuh-uh."

"What are you doing?"

Loki looked up from his knives. "Cleaning these. They've been sullied by Asgardian touch."

"Everything we touch is sullied?" Thor caught Loki's wrist.

The Jotun shrieked, yanking it away, then stopped as he saw the pale colour of Asgardian skin wash over him. "What did you do? What magic is this?"

Thor looked down, surprised, at what looked like a young Asgardian standing in front of him. "_Loki_? You're a shape-changer!"

"I am _not!_" Loki looked ready to cry. "What did you do to me?"

Thor stared for a while, then panicked. He had no idea what to do, and from the looks of it, neither did Loki. "_Father!_" he shouted, then grabbed Loki's hand and pulled him back towards the conference room. Odin would know what to do, despite Loki's comment about him not being omniscient!

/ / / / / /

**A/N: Please review! You've read this far, see it through!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary: These next few chapters—maybe next ten, maybe next two, I don't know yet—will all be a story line. After this, I think I'll go back to writing one chapter for each meeting.**

**A/N: Yet again, thank you so much to everyone who's read, and an extra thank you to everyone who's reviewed. It really makes my day to see the little email alert icon in the corner of my computer screen, so thank you! **

**Also, if there are any Star Wars geeks out there, I would recommend a story by my genetic template, AaylaKitofNiflheim. It's truly very funny, and it includes both original and prequel trilogy characters, for you purists (hey, I'm not mocking you, I'm one too).**

**AaylaKitofNiflheim: Thanks! I love writing Loki. He's always seemed pretty easy to write for me. I'm not sure why. **

**anonyme: Thank you! The second I saw the words "well written" I was kind of dancing with joy. Um. Don't mind me. Riverdance!**

**the-raven-angel: Is "thank you" not sounding like words anymore? Cause it's not to me. Time for synonyms! I…graciously…accept…your…congratulations. (I need to work on this synonym thing. Thesaurus time.)**

**TheCheeseburger: I show gratitude towards your review! Okay, I'm saying "thank you", no matter how many times I have to say it! This synonym thing is HARD! Anyway. Thank you!**

**otterwarrior16: I'm glad you like it. I love writing little Thor and Loki. Little Thor is ****_hard_****, though. Don't get me started on writing Odin and Laufey. There's a reason each one of them spoke a minimum of dialogue, and it had nothing to do with them being naturally silent. Thanks for your review!**

**Mussstashhhh: When I saw your name and was writing it out in here I kept checking back and muttering, "three S's…four H's…is it a C or an S before the H…curses…" That said, you've got a pretty awesome screen name. I truly love your review! Thanks so much! On another note, you're posting the review on chapter one, so the next chapter should already be up. (I had to repost that last chapter twice. First the line breaks that I fought oh-so-hard to get disappeared, then after the chapter was finished it repeated, so there were two of the same chapters in one chapter, if that makes sense.) Or maybe you just put it on chapter one because you felt like it. Uh. That was probably it. I knew that.**

/ / / / /

"What did you do?" Loki protested.

"I don't know!" Thor bit his lip. They were standing outside the conference room, waiting. Thor had wanted to barge in and explain what had happened, but Loki had been against it.

"We're not going in!" Loki said, seeing Thor look wistfully at the door. "No matter how much you want to!"

Thor rolled his eyes. "Loki, Laufey's not gonna care if you're Asgardian or Jotun—"

"Why wouldn't he? I know _I_'d care."

"I think it's called shape-shifting magic. You're not _actually_ Aesir."

Loki shrieked in despair. "Magic! Oh, wonderful! I can see his face when he learns I can use magic!"

"What's wrong with magic? My mother uses it," Thor said, stung.

"That's the point! It's women's arts." The now-Asgardian paced back and forth.

"Try turning back."

"_That's what I've been doing!_" Loki howled.

The door opened. "Thor, it's time for us—who's that? _Loki_?" Odin sounded puzzled.

Laufey appeared by him. "What's—_Loki_…what happened to you?"

"It wasn't my fault!" Thor said earnestly. "I just grabbed his arm and that happened!" He pointed at the most definitely _not_ crying Asgardian.

"If you gave us back the Casket," Laufey said angrily, "maybe that wouldn't have happened!" He pointed at Loki and Thor, who was uncertainly trying to comfort him.

"You can't pin everything on our taking of the Casket," Odin told him.

"I can pin this on it!" Laufey paced back and forth. "It's the foundation of Jotun life, I can see how the absense of it is related to this, even without your eye, you should see that, _Allfather_." His tone turned bitter. "If he touched it, he could turn back."

"I will not return it. This…development…has nothing to do with it. Loki," Odin said, turning to him, "if you talked with Frigga, maybe she could show you how to turn back. This is naught more than shape-shifting. It won't be permanent, nor harmful."

Loki looked at him in shock. "How is it not harmful?"

Thor glanced up. "Why is it such a big deal?"

Loki shrieked obscenities at him and Laufey glared at him with such force that Thor stepped back and almost hid behind Odin. "Alright. I wouldn't want to turn into a Jotun either."

"Thor, apologize," Odin commanded.

"I—no! I'm not apologizing to Frost—it was an honest—Father, why _is_ it such a problem for them?"

Thor was treated to glares by all three of them this time. "I'm sorry, Loki." He turned back to Odin. "Now can we go home?"

The glares continued in full force.

"Well, what are we going to do? I can't turn him back! Maybe Laufey can." Thor pouted.

Laufey experimented, taking Loki's arm. Loki flinched visibly. While as a Jotun, he'd had no issues with the cold, now he understood why the Asgardians called them Frost Giants. Laufey's touch was freezing.

"Apologies." Laufey let go and stood up. "Evidently, it's not working. What do _you_ suggest, Allfather? Your son did this to him."

"I did nothing!"

Odin had had enough. "Thor, silence!"

Loki smirked at him as Thor looked chagrined and sat down in a chair. Now the young Asgardian had seen it fit to take revenge for all the times people had glared at him, treating each one of them to an if-looks-were-spears death eye.

"We can take him to Asgard," Odin continued. "Or, you could simply wait here and pray it wears off."

"But it won't!" Laufey hissed. "Not without the Casket, which _you_ stole."

Loki was paralyzed with terror. Asgard? He'd had _nightmares_ when he was very young about that stupid place. "I'm sure it'll go away—I don't mind being like this, not so much—" His protests sounded very weak even to him.

"I mind you like this," Laufey told him. "Try stepping outside and you'll mind it too."

Outside? _Right_. Stupid Asgardians had a low tolerance for cold. Loki couldn't stay in this form and stay in Jotunheim for very long. "I hate Asgard."

"Do you think I don't?" Laufey put a hand on Loki's shoulder. "I'd rather destroy Asgard then let you go with them. But if you stay here you'll die of cold."

Loki shivered. He had been _fine_ before Laufey had mentioned it, but in this form it _was_ cold. And he hated it.

"How do we stand it?" Loki muttered.

"Come on," Odin said, nodding to Thor and Loki. "Loki is coming with us?"

"_Unfortunately_." Both Loki and Laufey hissed this at the same time.

/ / / / / /

"Wow."

Thor smirked at the now-Asgardian's wide-eyed amazement at Asgard.

"I thought you were so uncivilized," Loki said, marveling. "But this is just…"

Thor laughed. "We've had this for centuries, Jotun. It's not that big a deal."

Loki was led into the palace by Thor and Odin. By now the awe had worn off, and he was starting to regain his skepticim towards all Aesir.

"So, who shall I see to try and get rid of this ridiculous form? And where may I stay?"

"Thor, show him to a room by yours. I'll explain to your mother what's happened. Watch Loki," Odin instructed Thor. Thor nodded and took Loki's hand. Loki jumped away.

"What's wrong?" Thor asked, then realized. "Sorry. You still don't like Asgardians…even though you are one now?"

Odin had left by then, and in the next second Thor found himself flat on his back with a smaller boy pinning him down. "_I am not an Asgardian! _This appearance does not reflect who I am!" Speaking of "reflect" and "appearance" gave Loki an idea, and he jumped off of Thor, who stood up. "Can I have a mirror?"

Thor shrugged. "Sure." He took a while looking around the guest rooms near his to find one that had a mirror and that Loki might approve of. When this was accomplished, he headed back to find Loki.

Who wasn't there.

_Curses_, Thor thought, hitting his head against a wall. Odin's last instruction had been to watch him, and that was exactly what he'd forgotten to do. Loki was still a Jotun in spirit—could he have found his way to the weapons department? _Hopefully _not, but he _might_ have. Who knew with Frost Giants? And he had no idea where to go or anything...Thor tried very hard not to hit his head again, but it was almost unavoidable.

"Thor!"

Thor looked over to see Fandral grinning at him. "Hi, Fandral. Where are Volstagg, Hogun, and Sif?"

"Sif's sleeping in the library. She's supposed to be doing studies, but she got bored." Fandral sighed heavily. "And Volstagg and Hogun are sparring. Can you spar with me?"

Thor bit his lip. He'd truly like to, but he had a Jotun to find. "Sorry, Fandral. No time."

The young warrior sighed again, then ran off.

It took Thor about half an hour to find Loki, but eventually he let out a sigh of relief when he saw his charge sitting on the library, a book open on his lap. Loki was absorbed in his reading, lips moving as he mouthed the words.

Sif was lying a few feet away from him. A book was resting on her stomach, and her long golden hair was pooled on the floor under her head.

Thor froze. Something didn't seem right with Sif—and then he looked again and he saw it.

He didn't want to believe it, but gingerly picked up a lock of smooth golden hair. As he had suspected, it was separate from the rest of Sif.

Thor dropped the lock and spun around. "_Loki!_"

The book slammed shut and Loki bounded to his feet, looking surprised. The shout woke Sif up, and she rubbed her eyes, looked sleepily around, and realized what had happened to her.

"_Who are you? I hate you!" _Sif shrieked, spinning on Loki. "Thor, who is he? I'll kill him!"

The shouts brought the librarian running, terrified as to what had happened.

Loki placed his book away in the shelf as the librarian summoned Sif's father and Odin, and smiled at the chaos he had caused.

/ / / / /

**A/N: You've read this far, now finish the job and write something in the box below, please!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary: A continuation of last time, which is a continuation of the time before that, which was not a continuation of the time before THAT.**

**I've forgotten to put the disclaimer. My name is Vana Jedi, not Marvel. **

**Constructive criticism, by the way, is totally welcome. I forgot to put that as well. **

**AaylaKitofNiflheim: Original drafts had Thor just finding Loki in the library. But I wanted Thor to have some dialogue with someone else, and then I had to think of a good place for Sif to be, and it just kind of…clicked together.**

**no-MY name's Anonymous: When confronted with the rule book, I think Loki turns and runs. And right now he's kind of, "Ha, if you hurt me Laufey'll kill you, so I can do ****_whatever the heck I want_****." Except he's not actually saying that. But he's thinking it. You can bet he's thinking it.**

**Mussstashhhh: I thought it might be something like that…but cause I had to repost it a couple times I was freaking out. "Do I have to repost it again? DId it not show up? What's wrong? Oh, I'm getting reviews on chapter two, so it's up…phew…but wait, maybe it just didn't show up for them? Aaaah!" Yup, Loki's evil! Well, he is Loki…**

**Zhian'tara: Love that screen name! (And no, I DIDN'T think it looked only vaguely familiar and dismiss it until I checked out your profile and it all made sense. Did I say that out loud?) Apparently the general consensus on this is 'adorable' or 'cute'. Actually, it wasn't quite what I was aiming for (Wait, what WAS I aiming for? I don't even know now. That was the sound of my head hitting the keyboard), but if it isn't broke, don't fix it (oooh, double negative, curses, this comment is kind of parenthetical overload), right?**

**Without further ado, the next chapter, which you have either all been waiting eagerly for or glancing at your alerts in surprise and muttering, "Wait, what was that story about again?"**

/ / / / /

"_Kill him!_" Sif yelled.

Sif's father, Sif, Odin, the librarian, and Thor were standing around Loki and glaring at him.

Loki glanced up at them. "Diplomatic immunity."

"You are here on our invitation, Jotun!" Thor shouted. "Cooperate or we send you back, still in Aesir form, to die in the frozen wastelands!"

"Ah-ah-ah!" Loki waved a finger at Thor. "While I'm in _this_ form, all your people will see is you banishing a helpless Asgardian child. Don't want to have to explain to the entire kingdom that, do you?" He smirked. "Thought not."

Thor was ready to kill.

It was so much _fun_ irritating everyone, Loki thought. The Asgardians _were_ idiots, to leave him alone. But really, had he expected anything else from them?

"They don't have to see," said Thor. Apparently the oaf had managed to wrap his brain around Loki's comment and comprehend it. Stunning! He had anticipated much less.

Odin saw the the times they had seen Loki, he hadn't really had an oppurtunity to take advantage of the situation. The first time he saw Thor, he'd been young and hadn't developed his full personality. The next time, he was in awe of the Aesir visiting his realm (and probably a little afraid of what would happen if the peace talks went on), then he was afraid of his new form, and in awe of Asgard. But now he'd gotten control of the situation by cutting off Sif's hair. They needed to find a way to take the advantage again—this Loki wasn't very pleasant. "Thor, take Loki to his room."

"_It_," Sif hissed while her father comforted her. "_It_ doesn't have a name! It's a stupid Jotun!"

"Aesir, now," Loki sniffed, "and I don't enjoy being one any more than you enjoy your new haircut. You're quite vain."

"_Thor_," said Odin.

"Very well, father." Thor huffed a sigh and took Loki's arm.

"Get your hands off me! Now I have to wash myself. Where's some water? And soap? Actually, corrosive acid, that's the only thing that'll get the Aesir stink off me. Where's acid?!"

Thor rolled his eyes, pulling Loki along. Odin waited until they were out of the way, then sent one of his watcher ravens outside the window to see if Loki's curiosity would replace his now-infuriating personality.

The raven perched outside the window. Once it saw everything, it would fly back to Odin and report.

Thor saw the raven and smiled. Apparently Odin wanted to keep an eye on Loki. The raven stared pointedly at some objects in the room. _Ah, weapons_. Thor hurried to get them out of the room as soon as possible—they _didn't_ need Loki to get ahold of them.

"A mirror?" Loki asked, looking at it, while staying out of the way of its reflection.

His stomach fluttered a bit. He'd never seen his face in Asgardian form before. It would no doubt be horrendously ugly. Loki wasn't very vain, but _any_ self-respecting Jotun would be horrified. Taking a breath, Loki stepped into the path of the reflection.

Thor dropped the knife he had been holding and jumped out of the way before it stabbed his foot at the bloodcurdling scream Loki uttered.

"_What_, for Yggdrassil's sake?!" he yelled, exasperated.

"Aah!" Loki jumped away from the mirror and landed on the bed in the room. "I'm hideous!"

"You look fine," Thor sighed.

"_I do not_! My markings are gone! And my eyes are a different colour-_agh!_ I can never show my face in Jotunheim again!"

Thor slipped the last pointy and possibly dangerous object into his belt. "I'll go see Father and Mother and get you some better it's not that big a deal."

Loki's head came out of the pillows. "Oh _no, _I am _not_ wearing Asgardian clothes."

"Oh, yes. You stay in here!"

"_Fine!_" Loki shrieked, and threw his first tantrum in a year. Laufey detested tantrums, and as a general rule Loki had bit his tongue, holding back his infuriation, until he was alone and could scream in peace. He didn't care about Thor's being there this time, though. This was truly an occasion worthy of having a screaming fit.

If being on Asgard, in Asgardian form, wasn't bad enough to make Loki have a tantrum, _nothing_ would be bad enough to make him.

/ / / / /

The raven flew back to Odin, relaying the information.

"Thank you, Munin," Odin told him, and allowed himself a small smile. Loki's cruel personality should stay out of the way for his visit. They'd have to keep a watch on him to make sure he didn't try to tip the odds in his favor again by doing something similar to the hair-incident with Sif, but the shock of being in Asgardian form—and then _seeing_ himself in Asgardian form—had knocked the cruelty and sheer pettiness out of him for now.

That didn't mean he wouldn't try and make mischief. _Curses_. Keeping up with Thor was enough—now they'd have to try and watch a Jotun hell-bent on causing mischief in repayment for the form he was stuck in. Ah well. Frigga would talk to the child, and hopefully they'd get him back in the right form and out of Asgard soon enough.

/ / / / /

Frigga stuck her head around the door. The little one was lying sprawled out on the bed, apparently having passed the screaming stage of his tantrum now. A mirror was lying on the floor, its surface cracked.

She walked over quietly to the bed and knelt down by it. "Hello, Loki."

Loki's head turned to the side. "I take it you're Frigga."

"Indeed I am."

"Okay." Loki turned his head back into the pillows.

She wasn't entirely sure what to say. It had always been quite easy to comfort Thor if he was upset, but this was a Jotun and she was certain the principle was different. For a while she wondered what she was doing. _You'll have to talk to him anyway, _she thought, _and Jotun or not, he's still a child._

"You are Laufey's son?"

Loki's head snapped around again. "He'll kill you all if you don't turn me back!"

"We're going to try to do that."

"It'd better be more than trying." Loki huffed out a sob before pressing his head against the mattress.

Poor thing, he was so upset about what had happened to him. Frigga put her hand on his back to see if she could sense any magic.

She jumped back at the same time as Loki did. Magic was most definitely there—uncontrolled and untamed. It wasn't that he simply _couldn't_ turn back. Part of his own nature was stopping him, for reasons as of yet unknown to them—and to him.

"What was _that_?" Loki breathed. "I felt something."

"Magic," Frigga explained.

He looked up at her hopefully. "You can turn me back?"

"I don't know, Loki."

"You don't _know_. You Asgardians _are_—" Loki stopped himself. Frigga might be able to transform him back to Jotun form, and he didn't want to anger her if that was the case. "I—I'm—" he was about to say "I'm sorry", but cut himself off. He wasn't willing to go _that_ far!

Frigga guessed what he had been about to say and tried to prevent herself from smiling. He didn't look like he'd take patronizing well.

_How is it like, living in Jotunheim? I don't think that Laufey would make the best parent…come to think of that, where is his mother? Dead, probably. _

Loki was thinking, too.

_Maybe if I pretend that I'm okay with being in Asgard, they'll relax their security and I can find the Casket. Laufey said that that would change me back. Okay, acting time. I can do it—no, no, I can't. I can't pretend to be all grateful and happy. I will hate them and enjoy it. Stupid Asgardians!_

Frigga put clothes down by him. "These should be your size. Someone will come back in an hour and take you down to have dinner."

_I don't need an escort! I am Prince Loki!_ "Fine."

She smiled at him before turning to leave.

"Wait."

"What is it?"

"I—um—" Loki looked at the floor, hating himself for giving in and asking them for something. "Um. The library—I was reading a book—if you—"

"I'll find it for you."

Loki was about to ask how, then stopped. _Right. Magic. _

Frigga gave him another smile before she left the room.

A while later Thor came with a book. Loki had, against his better judgement, changed, and also annihilated the mirror by taking a paperweight and smashing it over and over again.

Thor blinked at the shards of glass on the floor. "I'll get a servant to clean that up for you."

"Uh-huh," Loki muttered, grabbing the book and bounding back onto the bed. "Sif still mad?"

"Extremely so."

_Ha!_ "Good."

The servant was a young girl about his age. She talked too much. Apparently she was the daughter of two of the servants, and she'd never seen Loki around the palace before, and what was his name? Oh, that's a nice name, and her name was Gerda, and she'd like to see him again if that was it okay, and what was that he was reading, oh yes, she's read that one, quite liked it actually, but this one is better, until Loki wanted to take the shards of glass she was picking up and thrust them into her palm with enough force to pierce the skin, and _then_ maybe she'd shut up. Well, she wouldn't shut up, but at least the screams would be different then the chattering.

Loki slammed his book over his eyes once she had left. The sooner he could turn back to his Jotun form, the better.

**A/N: This little story about Loki being in Asgard is going on longer than I expected…do you think I should change the summary to reflect that? **

**Also, Gerda is most definitely NOTNOTNOTNOTNOT ON MY LIFE going to be a recurring character, nor a love interest. I swear on the soul of—um, sorry Thor—I swear on the soul of Thor that I will NOT make this an OC story!**

**Now, please review. It makes my day. (I've actually never asked someone: Is it ****_normal_**** to run around shrieking, "SOMEONE REVIEWED! SOMEONE REVIEWED!" every time someone does, in fact, review?) **


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary: Continuation. **

**A/N: Please tell me in a review: SHOULD I change the summary, cause this plotline is going on longer than I expected?**

**Constructive criticism WELCOMED. If you have to choose between constructive criticism and a compliment, pick the constructive criticism. Actually, pick both. **

**Yes, and I would like to say thank you to AaylaKitofNiflheim for reviewing every single chapter! Even though I told her to!**

**People reading this: here is homework. Act out this conversation with at least one person.**

**"Hey, have you read Both Born to be Kings?"**

**"No."**

**"It's really good. It's by Vana Jedi. She's awesome."**

**"Oh, okay. Should I review?"**

**"Yeah, definitely."**

**See, class? Practice this. A lot.**

**I don't own Marvel. Alas.**

**AaylaKitofNiflheim: Yes, that is why we love Loki. **

**Higashikaze: Indeed. Loki is the only person ever who can be adorable while being a brat.**

**TheCheeseburger: That interaction was so hard—I kept thinking Loki as in Asgardian Movieverse Loki, and had to keep reminding myself that while Frigga would still feel protective towards a child, Loki'd hate her and she would be cautious around him. **

**Without further ado, read and review!**

/ / / / /

"Tommorrow you can see Mother, right?" Thor asked. "And she'll turn you back?"

"Presumably." Loki picked up his book and flipped through it.

Thor sat down on a chair. "How are you coping, Jotun?"

Loki decided that this question only deserved one answer, and that answer was to hurl the book at Thor's head.

He dodged it. "Hey! What was that for?"

"Does it _look_," Loki said, "as though I am anything other than completely miserable?"

Thor examined him.

"You were fine at dinner."

"Because I was busy kicking Sif under the table and avoiding her fork." Loki stood up and picked up the book. "Now show me to the library. I want to return this."

Frigga _had_ told Thor to take orders from him. Apparently Loki had started crying again after dinner and if he needed anything, far be it from Thor to deny it.

Frigga had told Thor that, but Frigga wasn't here to see him disobeying it.

"I don't take orders from you."

"You do now. Library."

Thor sighed. "Come on, then."

/ / / / /

Sif stared at the magic book. "You think you could regrow it?"

Frigga nodded. "It will still be dark in colour, but I think I could." She put her hand on the side of Sif's head, working the magic required.

The young girl jumped up. "Good! Thank you, Queen Frigga!"

Thor and Loki entered to see Frigga smiling at Sif as Sif held up a mirror and craned her head to see her new hair.

"Your plans are foiled, demon Jotun!" Sif laughed and twisted her head around, whacking Loki in the face with the long braid.

Loki spat out a bit of black hair. "Just a little fun, really."

"You look nice," Thor said, more than a little awkwardly.

"Yes," Sif agreed with him. She stopped. "It _is_ black, like the demon Jotun's." She gestured at Loki, who rolled his eyes and set about finding another book while steadfastly avoiding the mirror Sif was holding. He didn't want to have to look at the evil Asgardian form he'd been forced into. "But it's much prettier than his."

Frigga nodded. "Sif, your father will be waiting for you. Thor, don't let Loki out of your sight."

"Promise," Thor said absently.

"Good. I'll come and find you when it's time to go to bed." Frigga ushered Sif out.

Loki glanced at Thor, who was staring at the bookshelves, bored. He picked up the book on magic that Sif and Frigga had been looking at and trotted out of the room behind Thor's back.

/ / / / /

"Fandral, have you seen—"

"Sorry, haven't seen anyone but Sif. She looks even prettier now, don't you think?"

/ / / / /

"Hogun, did Loki pass—"

"No."

/ / / / /

"Volstagg, please help me, I can't find—"

"Looking for Loki? Can't help you."

"_Damn_."

"If Odin heard you talk like that—"

/ / / / /

Loki curled up in a chair in a spare room, mouthing some of the words in the magic book. He tried experimenting with it.

If he could shape-change, theoretically he should be able to use magic. Laufey would hate it, but Laufey didn't _need_ to know, and it would always be helpful to have a little extra trick to do in battle. Such as summoning a serpent, creating duplicates—Loki was beginning to warm a little to the magic idea.

He could find plenty of shape-shifting spells, but none of them said what to do when you were a Jotun that had accidentally been transformed into an Asgardian.

Only one spell was he able to do, but it would be very useful. It would camoflage him from Heimdall's view. Loki wasn't sure how it managed to do that, nor why it was in this book, but he managed to cast it.

"Hmmm," Loki murmured. "I'm good at this."

_Where do I go, now that Heimdall cannot find me?_

_Weapons vault_, Loki thought, standing up and putting the book down. _I'll find the Casket_.

/ / / / /

"Sif!"

The girl turned. "What is it, Thor?"

Thor grabbed her hand, pulling her back.

"Thor! I have to leave now. My father's taking me home—"

The prince turned to look at Sif's father. "Can she stay a little longer? I haven't seen her in _ages_."

"I suppose…is it all right with your parents, Thor?"

"Yes," Thor lied.

"What is it?" Sif whispered as Thor pulled her behind a plant large enough to cover them.

"Sif, I need your help. I can't find Loki, and the last time I couldn't find him, you _know_ what happened." He nodded to her hair.

She blinked. "Okay. Do you have a sword?"

"What—I won't need a weapon—I know you dislike him, but this is really—"

"In case he wandered into Jotunheim!"

Thor stopped, frozen in fear. "You think that's what happened?"

"Ask Heimdall." Sif shrugged. "I _think_ so. Where else would he go?"

"Let's get horses from the stables. We _have_ to find him!"

/ / / / /

"Ow!"

Loki was suspended by one of the guard's arms.

"What do you even _want_ with the Casket? You're a child! How did you get in here!"

"Put me down! I got lost!" Loki squirmed. "Ask Odin!"

The guard dropped him. "Odin knows you?"

"Yes!" Loki jumped to his feet. "I'm a guest in the palace. And I got lost."

"Call Odin!" the guard told another one, then knelt down to Loki's height. Loki immediately disliked him. He _hated_ it when adults did that, as though he was so incredibly small that the distance between their mouth and his ear was so far that if they didn't bend down, he couldn't hear them. "What's your name?"

"Loki."

"Well, Loki, how did you get in here?"

Loki bit his lip. The truth—which was that he had used one of Sif's hair pins that had been left over when he cut her hair—would counteract his previous statement that he had just gotten lost._"I was lost, and I saw a locked door, so I just stole a hair pin from that girl—you know, the one who had her hair cut off by a Jotun turned Asgardian? Yeah, her—and then I stuck it in a fire until the metal was soft and picked the lock on the door." _

"The door was open," Loki offered.

"Uh-huh." The guard looked disbelieving, but stood up as Odin entered. "Allfather, the child says he knows you—"

"_Loki._" Odin stared at him. "Where's Thor? How did you-" He appeared to be at a loss for words, so Loki decided to answer his first question.

"Don't know." Loki shrugged. "If he's smart he'll look here." He considered what he had said. "He's not going to look here. Send out a search party."

"You do know him?" The guard was looking back and forth between them, confused.

Another guard—_how many are there_, Loki wondered—ran in. "Allfather!"

Odin turned from Loki. "What is it now?"

"Heimdall says that Thor and Sif were on the Bifrost. They're going to Jotunheim!"

/ / / / /

_Earlier..._

"Heimdall, did Loki travel this way?" Thor demanded.

Heimdall looked at them. "I do not know."

Sif spoke up. "You're all seeing!"

"The boy has magic in him. There are ways, and it could be that he has found them. All that I know is, I do not see him."

"You mean he might have cast a spell?"

"Yes."

Thor groaned and turned to Sif. "He could be anywhere!"

"Let's find him!" Sif cried. "Heimdall, take us to Jotunheim!"

/ / / / /

**A/N: Please read and review. I'm not going to fall back on the old "virtual confectionary" thing that so many people do. So instead, I will bake a pineapple upside down cake, Skype you, and eat it in front of you while talking about how delicious it is until you either want to kill me or you feel as though you can almost taste it yourself.**

**That being said, please review.**

**-Vana.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Reviews and constructive criticism WELCOME! See what I did there? I'm begging for reviews, but I'm trying not to sound too over-the top about it? I just said that it was welcome, instead of telling you that you had to? **

**Okay, you have to.**

**Ish.**

**If you want to, I mean. **

**But you don't want to, do you?**

**Um.**

**Let's get to the review replies, shall we?**

**AaylaKitofNiflheim: That was the most fun to write, too. **

**mimie-puddleduck: Yay, I reduced people to smashing on the keyboard gibbering! I must be either doing something very right, or doing something horribly wrong!**

**Orihara Anna: Indeed.**

**Rosie Luvs Choccie: I shall attempt to follow your dictations, and hopefully delight you further by the wondrous thing that is this fic! Verily!**

**Oomara13: Did you read through the entire story in one hour and post reviews on almost every single chapter? I think you may be my new favorite reviewer.**

/ / / / /

"Do we have to go and get them?"

Odin spun around and glared at Loki.

"I'm just saying." The little Jotun shrugged. "It's not like Father'll kill them or anything. Well, maybe Sif'll die, but I didn't like her anyway."

"You got them into this trouble," Odin said. "You help get them out."

"_They_ were the ones stupid enough to think I went back to Jotunheim."

"I would have thought the same thing. It was not stupid—but it was reckless." Odin took Loki's arm and pulled him towards the throne room.

"Ow!" Loki twisted his arm out of Odin's grip. "Where are we going, Aesir?"

"Frigga may be able to find them. We must assume—"

"Couldn't your gatekeeper see them?"

Odin did not take kindly to being interrupted, and turned around again. Loki was reminded of how small he was in comparison, and tried to make himself even smaller when compared with the angry Asgardian. "We must assume that they have gone so far into Jotunheim that their return may jeopardize the safety of Asgard. Loki, we have treated you with the utmost of kindness and you do this!"

"I didn't force them to run off into Jotunheim!"

Apparently Odin did not care about this, and took Loki's arm again. Loki groaned. _What I wouldn't give to have just taken the Casket. I'd be in my Jotun form, and out of this cursed place, and Odin couldn't yell at me about his precious son's disappearance! _

Frigga was in the throne room talking with an advisor . Something about visitors from Vanaheim coming. She glanced up as Loki tumbled into the room after yanking his arm free.

"Loki?" She knelt down, helping him up.

"It wasn't my fault!" Loki shouted.

Frigga looked from Loki to Odin. "Odin? What is going—"

"Thor and Sif have ran to Jotunheim in search of him." Odin nodded to Loki.

She was understandably confused. "But he's right here."

"He eluded Thor's watch, cast a spell to make him invisible from Heimdall's eye, and tried to steal the Casket." Odin put a hand on Frigga's shoulder. "Can your magic help?"

"Can't—"

"Heimdall can't bring them back, they're too far in."

Loki rolled his eyes as Frigga choked out a sob. Asgardians were far too emotional. It wasn't like Laufey would kill them or anything.

/ / / / /

Laufey was quite surprised, though he took care not to show it.

The Asgardian prince was back, and this time with a dark-haired female. And his son was conspicuously absent from the pair. Unless Loki had managed to shift his form into a female as _well_ as an Asgardian.

For a second Laufey was worried that that was what had happened, until the female pulled out a spear. Loki never fought with a spear.

_Good, at least I have one less thing to worry about. But if Loki is not the female, who is she, and where is he?_

"State your business here," Laufey called. He normally didn't meet the Asgardians who ran to his realm, looking for glory, but the Aesir prince must know something about Loki.

"We are Thor and Sif!" Thor called. "We seek Loki!"

_Loki? Loki—they can't find him? _

"Did Odin send you? Loki's not here." Laufey nodded to one of his guards discreetly. "He was with you. You can't find him?"

The female—Sif—muttered something that sounded distinctly uncomplimentary, and was about to yell an expletive at him when three of the guards grabbed her and her weapons.

"Sif!" Thor shouted, and had just managed to lift the hammer-_Mjolnir, I think it's called. They name their weapons, like pets_—before he was knocked down as well. "Laufey! We have no quarrel with—"

"How do I know you have not killed him?" Laufey demanded. "I offer an exchange to Odin, then. Your life, in exchange for Loki's form back, seeing as he has violated our original deal."

Thor bit his lip. "We haven't done anything to Loki! Odin didn't send us!"

"Lies!"

"We just can't find him," Sif said.

"Could he be in any of the realms?" Laufey asked. "Any that you know of? He could be _anywhere_?!"

Thor squirmed. "Yes…until the spell wears off."

"The spell." Laufey's voice was flat.

"He cast a spell to make him unseen from Heimdall—that's the gatekeeper—"

"I know who Heimdall is!" Laufey snapped. "He could be anywhere—Niflheim, Musphelheim—"

Laufey felt quite satisfied when Thor's face turned pale. Clearly the Asgardian hadn't thought that Loki could be in any realm.

"The realm of the dead?" Thor half squeaked.

"I offer you a choice," Laufey said. "You find him—search all of the realms—or, alternatively, you can stay in the dungeons until Odin finds him. Either way does not concern me."

"Damn!"

"Sif!" Thor glared at her.

"You're the only one allowed to swear?" she hissed. "I pick dungeons! We can fight our way out!"

Laufey sighed as Thor and Sif were dragged away. It was extremely annoying to have Asgardians in the dungeons—first they would complain, try to run away, probably be killed—but he didn't want Thor and Sif dead. Odin had broken the vow by sending the two "warriors", and by not returning Loki.

/ / / / /

"Can you see where they are?" Odin asked. Frigga stood by him, shifting from foot to foot.

"Laufey believes that you have Loki prisoner, and that you sent those two to attack him while he could not make a move against you, for fear of harm coming to Loki."

Loki smirked. His father was smarter than he'd anticipated. "So they're in the dungeons?"

"Unfortunately."

"But this is wonderful!" Loki announced. "You turn me back and he delivers Thor and Sif back in exchange for me and the Casket! If not, they die, and you're all too stupid to recognize when to cut your losses! We can't lose!"

Heimdall and Odin stared daggers into him.

"Ah. Apologies," Loki muttered. "I suppose it isn't a glorious day for Asgard."

"Indeed it isn't," Odin murmured. "Frigga, change Loki back."

"I don't know if I—" Frigga began.

"_Do it!_"

Frigga nodded sharply, then took Loki by the shoulder. "Come, Loki."

Loki twisted out of her hand. "Aren't I coming to Jotunheim?"

"After she turns you back," Odin said, pacing back and forth. "And then we get Thor back."

/ / / / /

"What are you going to do?" Loki asked, intrigued.

"Sssh." Frigga was flipping through a book, then sighed. "Come, Loki."

"What? Where are we going _now_?" whined the small Jotun.

He realized where as Frigga drew him towards the secure vault. _The Casket!_ Loki cheered inwardly as Frigga put his hand on it.

"Aah!" Loki jumped back. The Casket was far, far colder than anything he'd ever felt before, but as his hand stayed on it the chill slowly faded and he saw his hand turning the familiar blue again. "It worked!"

Frigga smiled. "I don't know how long the effects will last. You may have to practice to hold the form." And indeed, as she spoke the blue was fading.

Loki concentrated, trying to keep the familiar frost on his skin. "Lady Frigga, it's not working!"

She put a hand on his shoulder. "Try again, without touching it." Loki's eyes flickered red, and for a brief second she could see the traces of markings on his skin, then they were gone.

"You almost did it," Frigga praised.

By the time Loki was sent back to his room, he'd managed to shift into the form at will and hold it for a while. Frigga told him it would only take one more day at most before he was back to normal, and until then Odin would try and contact Laufey and explain the misunderstanding. Until he was able to do that, Thor and Sif would just have to hold on.

Despite being able to shift back into Jotun form for a while, Loki's mood was more grim than ever. The brief respite had just reminded him how much he detested the Asgardian form, and even though it would just be a day he indulged himself in an hour of screaming into a pillow for no reason other than it would worry Frigga and that he could.

The idiot Asgardian servant—Gerda—knocked on the door. "Loki? Is there anything I can—"

Loki yanked his head up and concentrated hard.

Gerda shrieked, dropping the small tray she had been carrying, as Loki shifted into Jotun form. Still shrieking, she shot out of the room.

_Much better_, Loki thought, pleased, and went over to the tray. There wasn't much interesting there. Except—what was this?

She had been carrying a key. Loki picked it up. He wasn't sure what it would fit, but it looked to be quite a fancy key. Probably something important.

_I'll keep that then,_ Loki decided, satisfied.

/ / / / /

"One day?"

Frigga nodded.

Odin muttered a curse. "One day. Laufey could do anything to them in one day."

"He's not going to hurt them," Frigga offered soothingly. "After all, if he does he'll never get Loki back."

"You're right," Odin conceded. He continued pacing, troubled. "I still don't trust him."

"He doesn't trust you, Odin. That's why he did it."

"Correct." The king sighed and sat down. "Did the servant bring the key to the vault back to you yet?"

"Not yet, but she'll bring it back soon," Frigga said. "Now you should rest. Njord and Skadi will be here tomorrow."

"The same time the Jotun leaves and our son hopefully returns. Could there ever be a more unfortunate timing?"

/ / / / /

"You can't use that as a lockpick," Thor said. "I've tried, Sif."

Sif held up her hairpin and poked at the lock. "I'm sure I've read something about this working."

"Read? When—"

"I was reading what to do when you're captured in battle!" Sif jiggled the pin, then sat down. "It's no use."

"I told you so."

Thor shivered and dropped an arm over Sif's shoulders. It was cold—he couldn't understand how Loki managed to live here.

_Then again, Loki's quarters must've been more comfortable than these dungeons_.

"Maybe Fandral and Volstagg and Hogun'll come rescue us," Sif offered.

"They'd get caught too. We just have to wait until Odin comes."

Sif let her head drop back against Thor's shoulder. "Thor, what if no one knows where we've gone?"

Thor couldn't even wrap his head around that idea. "Of course they'll know. Heimdall will tell them!"

"You told Heimdall to tell noone of where we went until we returned."

"Well, if we're gone too long he'll disobey that rule, right Sif?"

"I hate that Jotun."

"Hating won't help anything right now, Sif. We have to just wait. Let's sleep."

"_I hate his soul_."

"Sif!"

**/ / / / /**

**A/N: Oh dear, I broke my rules and made Gerda come back again. Ah well, I promise this will be the last we see of her. **

**I'm not so sure about this chapter. I think it might be a little confusing. Alas…**

**Tell me what you think in the reviews, please! **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Well, I haven't taken a long time to write this at ****_all_****. Nope, not me! Gah.**

**A recap for those who need it, because it's been ****_so freaking long_****: **

_**Loki, with the help of Frigga, is able to hold his Jotun form for a short amount of time. He frightens a serving girl by switching into this form when she walks in, causing her to flee, dropping her tray. The tray happens to have a key on it, and Loki takes this, because he's Loki and he likes stealing stuff. Thor and Sif have went to Jotunheim, mistakingly thinking Loki was there. They were thrown in the dungeons and were to be exchanged for Loki.**_

**Recap over? Good. Yay!**

**No review responses. I'm sorry, but it would basically be the same thing over again. "Thanks. Sorry, because I drop the ball on this chapter. At least I think it's going to be the last one, so there's no more people to worry about ticking off. Sorry again." Because I do drop the ball here. This fic has sort of been weighing me down the last few weeks, and I needed to just crap out a fast ending. So, I did that. Again, sorry.**

**And this will actually—um, yeah, it'll be the last chapter. Ish. It's a kind-of cliffhangery thing. Sort of. Um. It's the last chapter for now, though.**

* * *

Loki strode through the halls of Asgard like he owned the place, which he planned to the second Jotunheim was in possession of the Casket. If he moved purposefully, no one would give him a second glance.

Approaching the stronghold was considerably harder, however. Loki frowned at the two guards pacing back and forth outside.

The Jotun considered what to do, then switched into Jotun form and leaped forwards. The guards were incapitated with an ice dagger to the back of their necks almost immediately. Loki had made sure not to wound them severely—they would wake up in a few minutes and be very disoriented for the next few hours. By the time Asgard had figured out what had happened Loki would be home with the Casket.

The next part was more nerve-racking—seeing if Gerda's key fit. It _should_, because Loki had tried it out on a facimile of the lock that he had created out of magic. But his magic abilities were extroardinarily weak, and were only as developed as they were thanks to Asgard's extensive library.

"Ha!" Loki exclaimed in triumph as the key turned.

It was all ridiculously easy after that—creating a (rather poor) reproduction of the Casket, taking the actual Casket, and using magic to create a portal in the air, where he could place the Casket and draw it out at any time. He ran off to the library.

"Loki!" Frigga said in surprise, seeing him. "Good! I was looking for you. Skadi, Njord, and their children are coming in seven hours. Hopefully you will be in Jotunheim by them. Come, Odin is to bring you back and reclaim Thor and Sif."

"Idiots," Loki said. "They shouldn't have ran off." Seeing Frigga's angry expression, he changed the subject. "Queen Frigga, may I have a moment? The servant left something in my room." He held out Gerda's purse, which she had dropped along with the key upon seeing Loki. Loki had already pilfered her purse to see if there was anything else worth stealing. There were a few coins, but he left them. There was no need for Gerda to complain to Odin that he was stealing from her.

"Be quick," Frigga said hastily.

Loki nodded and raced off down the hallways again. "Ah, hello!" he exclaimed. "I believe you left this." He held out the purse, the key replaced inside it.

Gerda's eyes widened in thanks and she snatched it from him.

"Well, don't bother thanking me," Loki said, tapping his foot. "Peasant."

"Thank you, thank you!" Gerda cried, not bothering to pay attention to the insult. She promptly kissed Loki on the cheek in gratitude and ran off into the crowd, leaving Loki wiping his face furiously and hissing to himself.

Odin found Loki not more than twenty minutes later. The Allfather was rushed—and for good reason, really, Loki thought as they entered the frozen realm of Jotunheim. The guests from Vanaheim probably would _not_ be happy if they entered Asgard and found the royal family in a state of panic due to the loss of Thor.

Laufey was waiting for them in the throne room with Thor and Sif. Their hands were tied, and Sif was cursing under her breath at a Jotun guard.

There was a simultaneous cry of joy from both Thor and Loki as they saw their respective parents. Thor made to run forward and was pulled backwards by a guard.

"I am here," Loki said. "Therefore I would request those two to be released. Asides from being foolish, stupid, Aesir louts—"

"_Hey!"_

"—they have done nothing wrong." Loki considered. "Although if you want to kill them, I for one would not object greatly."

Laufey gave the best semblance of a laugh that he could. "Guards, release the Aesir."

Thor dusted himself off, while Sif stalked over to Odin, head held high. Loki dipped his head to Thor.

"Farewell, my Asgardian enemy. May your blood someday stain my knives."

This was a considerably more dignified farewell than many Jotuns would have given, yet Thor frowned at Loki. "And farewell to you too, Loki."

"Try not to upset Vana Skadi," Loki said brightly. "I well know her wrath. The Vanir have taken it upon themselves to be as amicable as possible with the Jotuns, so I know her, and she is a force to be reckoned with when angry." Loki looked up at Laufey. "Father knows I speak the truth."

"A rare occasion, that, you speaking the truth," Thor replied. As insults went, it was not a very good one, yet Loki appreciated the effort. "Farewell again."

The Asgardians left, with Sif looking annoyed that she did not have something to attack, and Thor being embraced by Odin.

Loki leaped to his feet. "Father, father, look!" He concentrated, producing the Casket.

Laufey laughed again. "And so we have our doom! The Asgardians will soon notice it missing."

"Probably," Loki admitted. "But we will be able to match them if we have it."

The older Jotun nodded. "Well done, Loki. We shall prepare in advance for the war that Asgard will bring."

"For now, it's victory, though," Loki said. "Correct?"

"For now," Laufey said, "but Asgard—"

"Victory for now is victory enough."

"Well said, though not true."

Loki raised a fist in the air. "For Jotunheim!"

* * *

**A/N: This was really not a good chapter for me. I just sort of hacked out an ending, and this is my least favorite chapter. I might redo it some time later, but I don't have as much time as I did to work on this fic. I was considering abandoning it, but then figured that a badly-written ending was better than no ending, right? And now I can finish my other multi-chaptered story and go on to write more stuff, free of the responsibility that is this fic. **

**But yet again, people who are planning to kill me, I may revise this later when I have more time and more interest. So consider this a "maybe it's all over, maybe it ain't" thing. And I hate stories like that, but there's nothing to be done here. **

**Thank you, everyone who reviewed! I'm sorry that there's no review responses this time, but half of you are probably really glad that there isn't any, while the other half is said. **

**Yet again, thank you guys! Farewell, ****_namarie_****, may the odds be ever in your favor, may the Force be with you, and may you above all do what you ****_want_****!**


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